Book Review: Mad Dash

Reviewed by Kristine Eckart

A cowboy rom-com that will rope you in

Mad Dash by Sage Evans is a Western romance with characters who must discover their best selves and resolve the damage of their pasts before they can discover what true love really means. 

Christa is back in Higgins, Wyoming, and working for her father’s tannery; not what she planned on doing after college. She’s dedicated to helping with her dad’s MS symptoms, getting production at the tannery back on track, and selling their special beef jerky, but a chance meeting with cowboy Carter Corbett at the 100^th Annual Whiskey Mile Frontier Days & Rodeo not only brings up Christa’s feelings about Carter but sparks a relationship that could derail all her plans.

Carter is determined to get Christa to fall in love with him, but Christa is determined to stay away. When Christa meets Jake, a leukemia patient who dreams of being a real cowboy, Christa decides to put her reservations against Carter aside and create the perfect cowboy dream day for Jake. As Christa and Carter become closer through working on Jake’s wish day, they both have to reconcile with their past and choose what they want for their future.

Will Christa’s fix-everything attitude ruin her chances at love? Will Carter allow his past to haunt him forever or will he strike out on his own and become the man who deserves Christa’s love?

“You don’t have to be ashamed of growing up and struggling and not knowing what to do. Sometimes you’re going to make mistakes.” 

Evans paints a well-rounded landscape of the cowboy way of life: the high energy, crowds, and tricks at the rodeo, the care and training of horses, and the community that arises from working on a ranch or a farm. The reader will feel transported to the wilderness and wonderness of Wyoming.  

In addition to the central love story, the author aptly depicts the full and rich lives those with an illness can live. Jake learns to guide his favorite horse, Baby, and how to care for horses and the ranch even when his symptoms demand that he rest for a while between activities. Christa’s dad, Leland, navigating his worsening MS symptoms, helps with the tannery and selling beef jerky at the fair while working on his marriage and fighting to help his daughter find a life she loves. Characters like Jake and Leland are often side characters with small scenes and the readers get little opportunity for a profound look at the entirety of these characters’ lives. Leland not only helps Christa to realize the life and the love that she wants but also goes through a journey of his own, living with MS and trying to improve his marriage.

Mad Dash would be a lovely addition for anyone looking to add a Western rom-com to their shelves.

“Maybe there is no perfect love story. There’s only love. Precious, powerful, and terrifying.“

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